1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible hose, and more particularly to a flexible hose which has high flexibility and expandability, the flexible hose being light weight and easy to handle and being able to form in long length. This flexible hose is suitable for air-conditioning duct.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a hose which is formed by winding a tape made of soft vinyl chroride spirally and connecting side end portions of the tape to form a cylindrical body and applying a reinforcing coil member made of hard vinyl chroride on the cylindrical body is often used as an air-conditioning duct hose, since this type of duct hose has high formability and requires low manufacturing cost. However, reducing a thickness of the cylindrical body is technically limited, and further, it is difficult to keep the hose compact when not in use, furthermore, it is difficult to handle because the weight of the duct hose is considerably heavy. Also, the use of vinyl chroride tends to be limited in recent global environment problem, because a combustion waste of vinyl chroride generates a noxious gas and is considered to be a cause of acid rain, and vinyl chroride itself is considered to be a cancerating substance.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-21326 mentions that a hose made of a synthetic fiber filament is used as a duct hose. However, although this hose has an advantage of light weight of a nonwoven fabric, since this hose is made by winding and connecting the nonvoven fabric into a cylindrical form, a long-length hose can not be produced, and further, a cylindrical body can not be kept stable because there is no reinforcing member for keeping the shape of the hose.